Chord Electronics DACs

Chord Electronics DACs run custom FPGA code written by Rob Watts, not the off-the-shelf ESS or AKM chips found in every other manufacturer's products. The difference is measured in WTA filter tap length: 49,152 taps in the Hugo 2, 98,304 in the Hugo TT2, and 164,000 in the reference DAVE. More taps means more accurate reconstruction of the original analog waveform from digital samples.

The portable Mojo 2 and desktop Qutest use the same fundamental FPGA approach at lower tap counts and prices. Pair any Chord DAC with the Hugo M Scaler to add over one million taps of upsampling processing before the DAC's own filters. Every Chord DAC is designed and built in Kent, England.